Associations of the Home Food Environment with Eating Behaviors and Weight Status among Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Primary objective: Understanding the aspects of the home food environment of children and adolescents such as the availability, accessibility, and visibility of home healthy and unhealthy foods and the frequency and quality of family meals is necessary for developing direct interventions for weight management. This review examined the literature on associations of home food environment including availability, accessibility, and visibility of home healthy and unhealthy foods and frequency and quality of family meals with children’s eating behaviors and weight status and methods to assess the availability and accessibility of foods in the home. Main outcomes and results: Research suggests:1) the availability and/or accessibility of home healthy or unhealthy foods were associated with children or adolescents’ dietary intakes; 2) the link between home food availability and accessibility with weight status is weak; 3) the evidence on associations of frequency or nutritional quality of family meals with weight status is inconsistent; 4) the in-home assessments for food availability, accessibility and visibility appear to be necessary; however the assessment tools may need to be further improved to capture the quantity of the healthy and unhealthy foods in the home; and 5) repeated in-home assessments are needed to help determine the stability of foods routinely purchased at home. Conclusions: The obesogenic home environment is complex. This review aims to provide valuable insights for designing direct interventions for weight management in children and adolescents by improving their home food environment.